Two straight losses. That’s the kindest way to describe the beatings UCLA has taken this holiday season.

Five days before Christmas, No. 1 Kentucky ripped the Bruins apart at the United Center, covering the spread before the first timeout and taking a 34-point lead into halftime. A week prior, No. 8 Gonzaga had cruised to a comfortable double-digit win at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins now close nonconference play with Sunday’s 3:30 p.m. PT tipoff at Alabama, their first true road game. Asked if this is a win they need for their own psyche, Steve Alford didn’t hesitate.

“There’s no question,” said the second-year head coach. “We knew this was arguably going to be our most difficult stretch to date.”

Alford is trying to pull together a team that has not held a lead in more than two weeks, last doing so in a closer-than-expected win over UC Riverside. A tough schedule hasn’t helped, but UCLA (8-4) has also suffered lapses against what was supposed to be lesser competition; before that 11-point victory over the Highlanders, it only beat San Diego by seven.

The 50-year-old Alford has attributed the uneven season to inexperience. Shooting guard Norman Powell, second on the team with an average of 15.9 points per game, is the only senior that sees significant playing time. Center Tony Parker is the rotation’s only junior.

“This team, in mid-December, is not ready to beat a top-10 team in Kentucky or Gonzaga,” Alford said. “It’s not the end-of-the-world type stuff with this team. It’s just learning from those things and moving on and getting better.”

But in an era of college basketball ruled by one-and-done prospects, youth does little to placate fans. And forget about top-10 teams — UCLA hasn’t yet proved it can even beat top-25 teams.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Bruins dropped back-to-back decisions against Oklahoma and North Carolina, now ranked 19th and 20th in the AP poll. And after it visits the Crimson Tide, who were a basket away from upsetting No. 11 Wichita State, UCLA will begin its Pac-12 slate with a brutal swing through Colorado and 14th-ranked Utah.

It will try to survive with an even thinner lineup. Sophomore forward Wanaah Bail was ruled academically ineligible and is out for the season. He averaged just 1.5 points and 2.6 boards, but his 6-foot-9 frame could at least spell others in foul trouble or in need of rest.

To bounce back against Alabama (8-3), the coaching staff has done its best to help the team past its national-television meltdown against Kentucky. Alford compared his approach to how he handled last season’s regular-season finale at Washington State, an 18-point loss that preceded a Sweet 16 run.

“That was the one game that we kind of just threw out,” he said. “We didn’t show it on tape, we didn’t talk about it. We moved on. And then, obviously, we were able to win five straight games.”

Jack Wang covers the Chargers, the latest NFL team to relocate to Los Angeles. He previously covered the Rams, and also spent four years on the UCLA beat, a strange period in which the Bruins' football program often outpaced their basketball team. He is a proud graduate of UC Berkeley, where he spent most of his time in The Daily Californian offices in Eshleman Hall — a building that did not become earthquake-safe until after his time on campus.